Cato Crossed
by mrslukecastellan
Summary: Peeta and Cato are allies,as we knew..but what if something happened one night that changed them,just a little?What if Peeta, just for a matter of days,stopped loving Katniss.Peeta/Cato one shot for ChunkyGreenPanda's one shot contest.STRANGE PAIRING,I KNOW,BUT TRUST ME, IT ALL WORKS OUT. REVIEW, IT HELPS ME WIN. And if you review,I'm PM you for the poll you have to vote me for.


_**Well this is awkward...I'm writing a one shot for ChunkyGreenPanda's one shot contest. Sounds awesome, just leaving it at that. I have to write a Cato/Peeta fic, and I am so sorry to those peope that are Clato/Keeta/Peeniss fans, like I am. I had to write it to win. And I intend to win. Thanks so much for even clicking this. It means a lot to me.**_

_**I'm trying to touch on some major parts of the story, puting lots of little twists on the plot. Let's face it, I'm plot twisting just putting Peeta and Cato together.**_

_**Alright, just a warning, this is going to get really mature. If your not comfortable with that,I suggest you leave me a review real quick telling me it was too much, and then leaving. Because I don't want 'EW, OMG, YOU TOTTTALLLLY GROSSED ME OUT, WHY THE HELL DID YOU WRITE THIS?!' reviews. I told you, I wrote this to win a contest.  
**_

_**This contest can be won by me by you reviewing, and I'm pretty sure that there is going to be a poll up on ChunkyGreenPanda's profile. If you review, I will PM you when the poll goes up so you can vote for me, if that is the case. Just saying. Thanks again.**_

_**Now let's get this train wreck done, shall we?**_

"Hey lover boy...wake the heck up, would you? We don't need you being lazy."

Cato's voice drifts to my ears, sweet and rough and wonderful. I could wake up to that every day...it's a shame I won't be alive every day...I'm going to die in here. Cato's going to go back to District 2, as a Victor, like he deserves to. I wish I could stay alive and be with him...but I can't. So I might as well enjoy what little time I have with him.

I thought I was in love with Katniss. I mean, she was my district partner. I had said I loved her during my interview. But once I realized that she didn't love me back for real, when I realized Haymitch was telling her what to do and say, as I figured, like I just knew he would, my heart stopped beating for her. I didn't feel obligated to protect her like I used to. Taking care of her is just another chore. And it's not one that I want to work on anymore.

I knew the Capitol citizens wanted their little share of an Arena romance-so I gave them one. Cato and I.

We had quite the night last night...I'm shocked Clove didn't wake up. Shocked a Gamemaker didn't shoot an arrow out from thin air...everything shocks me here.

I was sleeping in my sleeping bag, trying to make it look like I was sleeping, too terrified to do it for real, when Cato came and approached me.

"Peeta," he said roughly, and I should have known things weren't the same anymore between us. I should have known we weren't just allies once he said that.

"Get the hell up, would you? I need to talk to you."

I groaned and opened one eye, looking at his grim face in the moonlight.

"I'm sleeping, Cato." I said hesitantly, not sure if I should have said anything.

He rolled his eyes. "Yeah right. You're scared out of your mind without Flame Girl, or whatever the hell it is she's supposed to be called."

He couldn't have known I was scared! Was it that obvious? I didn't think it was, but maybe it was. OH MY GOD, WHAT IF HE KNEW?! That would have been terrible. He could kill me if he thought I wasn't good enough for the alliance anymore. I couldn't show it. I wouldn't. I refused to.

"Peeta, I will drag you away. Do not make me do that, boy."

He called me boy, like he was older then me...which he is. By a few months, maybe. We're both 16, he's just taller. A lot taller. I don't know how that makes a point. It still annoyed me that he calls me that. But then again...it was Cato. Maybe I was able to tolerate it because it was him. Everything was more tolerable when it was him. Or maybe that was the constant fear of him potentially killing me. I didn't want to die.

I groaned, getting out of the precious, warm confines of my sleeping bag, and following him to wherever it was he wanted to take me.

We walked away from our camp at the Cornucopia, leaving our fellow allies to deal with whatever could have happened to them that night. I hadn't even thought about that as I was walking away with Cato. But now the thought makes me sick. Someone could have killed every last one of them. And we would have been safe.

We walked through some of the forest, across a small stream.

And we reached the place Cato wanted to take me unharmed, and unnoticed by anyone or anything else.

It was a cave. Dark, eerie...the perfect place to kill me, where none of the other allies would see. Where nobody could yell at him for killing off one of his own alliance. I figured that's what he wanted to do-kill me. I didn't think he'd want anything else to do with me. I mean, why would he want me when he could have someone better? Glimmer and Clove both obviously held a high degree of love for him, and Marvel eyed him the same way he eyed Glimmer's breasts...but maybe that was the jealousy he had because Glimmer wanted Cato. My point-everyone adored Cato. Everyone vied for his attention. Everyone craved his attention; just to feel seen by him was a privledge.

Even to me.

I hate to admit it, but I wanted him. I wanted whatever it is Cato had in store for me. Because even if he'd been killing me, he'd have to touch me a little to get to wherever he wanted to slice or stab or do any other damage to me. The weapon he used would have to touch me, and that's all I needed to get a thrill. The thought sent a shiver down my spine.

"Seems pretty nice, right? I can't believe I found it." Cato's smirk was the most evident thing, even though it was in the dark, dead of night, and the moon gave us the only light there was.

I nodded, my tongue feeling stiff.

_He's sweet talking me before your death, that's it. He doesn't feel a thing for you, you idiot_. I thought bitterly. _And even if you were worth his time, he still would never be with the son of a baker, when he's a mighty, perfect Career. He has no use for you, except to have one less person needed to be killed, so he can go home. He'll never need you, Mellark. You'll never be good enough._

My thoughts were broken when Cato brushed past me, sending a small little tingling, a small rush, through my body. It wasn't even a big thing. It was subtle, soft, two words I never even thought to identify Cato by. Stupid me, for thinking that.

His fingertips brushed against mine, that was all. But that was all it took for my palms to start sweating, for my head to spin and ache like there was no greater thrill in the world then to brush fingers with Cato. All it took for my mouth to water, just in the slightest, unnoticeable way. It was just an innocent little thing. Maybe even an accident. I'd had no way of knowing.

"Need help walking now, Lover Boy?" he growled, in a menacing way I'd come to recognize easily, even when all the Career alliance was talking at once.

15 year old Clove had a smaller voice, just as bold as Cato's, but smaller and higher. Glimmer talked the way a grown woman would, more mature, her voice a little bit lower then a girl like Clove who was two years younger. Marvel's voice droned through your skull, so boring and monotone even I, the one who wouldn't kill unless necessary, felt like slitting his throat. And then there was Cato. His voice was distinguishable among everything. He may have been younger then Glimmer and Marvel by a year, but he still instilled fear in all of us when he spoke-just by speaking.

I shook my head, trying to think of something smart, or witty, or at the very least not stupid to say. "No, but are you offering?"

He raised an eyebrow, looking at me quizzically. "Excuse me?"

I started getting nervous, thinking I was totally in for it now. He was going to kill me, splatter my blood all over the place, and walk away like nothing had even happened. Just like he had with every other kill he had made so far. And I'd not be an exception.

"Did you just ask me if I was offering?" He asked, in a slightly challenging tone, simply daring me to say yes.

I had just said that, so I couldn't pretend that I didn't, really. If I lied to him, there would be an even higher possibility that he would kill me.

I couldn't get the words out, so I simply nodded.

And then he pushed me up against the wall.

"Oh, Peeta..." he drawled. "You have no idea how long I have wanted to hear you say that."

He wanted to hear me say that? Oh my god, he _wanted_ to hear me say that! It was the best thing that had happened in the Games so far. And not something I'd get if I still was hung up on Katniss.

We were only a day into the Games. Just a day. And yet so much had happened.

"Cato...it took every ounce of courage I had to say that." I say, trying my best to keep my tone sounding cool. Like Cato's. I long to be cool like him, almost as much as I want Cato to say more stuff.

"I know, dear, sweet Peeta." he said, one arm going behind my back, the other touching my hair with soft, gentle, wonderful fingers.

"I know...and you want me, don't you?"

My throat dries up pretty quick. I can't find the words to say anything. But Cato knows what I was thinking. Took the words right out of my brain.

"Uh...um...well...yeah." I gasp.

Cato smirks at me. "Yes, I know. I know." he says. "Tell me how much you want me." he growls.

"I want you...bad." I say.

His grasp on me tightens. "Tell me about it."

Suddenly, without my consent, Cato's lips are on mine. Their hot, and salty, and taste faintly like blood. And then there's the fact that he's another guy. I've never kissed a guy. I've never kissed a girl either, come to think of it. What would my family think of this? My friends? I'm not gay, so it's not right for me to kiss a boy.

I fight to get out of Cato's grasp, but he holds tight, not letting me get out.

His lips part slowly, kissing me deeper.

And I realized I completely like this.

I kissed back, just a little. I was hesitant, not even sure I was doing anything right. But that doesn't stop Cato from helping me down to the floor. I don't even know how he did it, but I'm laying on the floor of the cave, and then he's right next to me, and he didn't hurt me to get me to that point.

"You want me, Peeta?" He asked, his hand taking mine.

He looked at me like he knew I wanted it, like he understood that I didn't know what to do, and then he started taking my jacket off. He did it so tenderly, so perfectly, that I stopped being so uncomfortable. He proceeded to take my shirt off, which didn't seem as weird to me anymore as it once would have. Maybe it's because I've seen so much in the Capitol.

There have been guys kissing that I've seen. And doing more...and I think I wanted the same thing with Cato.

"Your turn." he said.

I blinked at him. "What do you mean?" I asked, confused.

"I undressed you halfway, Peeta...I'd like the same bliss."

He smirked at me, but not like an 'I'm going to kill you.' kind of smirk. It was more of a 'It's alright. You can do it.' kind of smirk. I hadn't seen something like that in a while.

Cato doesn't move as I sit up, as I unzip his jacket, taking it off of him. He helps me get his shirt off, but I am in fact doing it.

And my pants follow, both of us having wordlessly decided that it was both better and easier to undress ourselves. And thank god for that, I thought, or else I really would have been lost. Or Cato would have pummeled me for not being man enough to do anything. He was stronger then me, after all.

And we had the most blissful night imaginable. I won't give you details...I couldn't if I tried...Cato really is vicious in everything he does. I'm not an exception.

I manage to get my feet, a weak grunt escaping my lips, and look over at Clove and Glimmer, both of them looking like they do every morning. Glimmer's attempting to braid Clove's hair, and Clove is not having it, as usual.

Marvel's sitting by Glimmer, whittling a stick to a sharper point then the already sharp point it has.

The girl from 4...I'm sorry to say I don't know her name, is sitting on the ground, looking totally lost. Poor kid. She's only 13, at the most, and she looks like she doesn't know the first thing about how to survive in this alliance. I can't say I know much more.

"Come on, we're going hunting!" Cato exclaims, and everyone stops what they're doing, grabbing their weapons and getting ready to go.

"Can't we sit here for like...a minute, without worrying where the hell other tributes are? Please, Cato?" Marvel complained.

Cato returned that with a nice slap to the face, reminding me why I barely ever speak unless I am directly asked something.

"No, Marvel. We can't. You can rest when your dead. Which, with your lack of brain cells, probably won't be that much longer."

Marvel pretty much shuts up after that.

* * *

**GAMES DAY 2**

It's been 2 days since I got into this Arena. I've seen Katniss once. That was before the gong sounded, before I started running for the woods. I saw her running after she got her backpack, but besides that, I haven't seen her.

"Are you sure she went this way?" Clove asks.

I nod slowly. "Yeah. I saw her running this way."

Marvel raises an eyebrow. "Are you _sure_?"

"Yes!" I exclaim. "She went this way."

We stop under a tree in the dark woods, considered it's night time in the Arena. Either that, or the Gamemakers are planning a huge thunderstorm or something.

"Are you _sure_ she went this way?" Cato asks, and I finally get fed up with all of them asking.

"_Yes_. She went this way. Our mentor told us to avoid the Bloodbath."

Cato nods. "Well go on, keep following after Clove and Marvel. Stay together and find her, I want her dead!"

I can't say I'm happy to hear that Cato wants Katniss dead...I want to win, and that means Katniss will have to die,though she is my district partner, and that means something. We should be allies. Instead, I'm with the Careers, just because I'm strong enough for them to think they want me. Or at least, that's why they told me. But I have a feeling that they also wanted to get back at Katniss for stealing their attention, especially Cato and Clove. They want her dead so they can rack up their control again.

I walk away, careful of what I show Cato. Just because the two of us...you know what we did...that doesn't mean he won't kill me.

"God, I can't wait to cut her into tiny little pieces." Clove says, smirking wickedly.

Marvel nods. "Yeah. She'll be dead, and then we'll can kill P-...Petra. I think that's 4's name."

I feel my face heating up, but in the darkness it doesn't matter much. They can't notice it, and that's all that matters.

I know my allies, besides Cato, want me dead. And I don't care. I'll last longer then they think.

* * *

**GAMES DAY 4**

The last two days have been pretty decent. I mean, nobody's threatened to kill me...much.

Glimmer and Marvel are sitting on a tree stump kissing. Again. It's really grossing me out. I mean, they have been kissing almost nonstop the past day and a half, whenever they don't need to be doing something else.

Clove is doing cartwheels in the woods nearby, and I can faintly hear her screaming something at the moment.

"DAMN IT!" I hear, and Cato gets up, running toward the woods, screaming Clove's name.

I get up and follow, not wanting to leave Cato and Clove potentially alone. I mean, what if he rapes her? I'm the only one h e should be with! I am his, he's mine. That's the way this is working.

Happily, Clove just sliced her hand. No sex involved at all.

Sorry. I just realized that I said one of the most mean things I could have said just now. Oh well. Gotta think like a Career to be one.

Cato rolls his eyes and bandages her hand quickly with a piece of his shirt, and I think about the perfect, porcelain like skin underneath where that scrap came from. I swear Cato winks at me as he turns and walks back,Clove at his heels practically. I follow dutifully.

"Hey, I'm running low on water." Marvel complains when we get back.

I turn my head in his direction, figuring he must have stopped lip-locking Glimmer long enough to realize he was running low on water, so it's probably safe to look.

Cato sighs. "Anybody else running low on water?" he asks.

What a stupid question. The Careers have every little thing they could want. The entire stock of the Cornucopia practically. We have enough water to last us for the rest of the Games at least. Oh, the irony...we'll all be dead except Cato by then. Or maybe Clove. It's possible that it could be here. Marvel winning would be highly doubtful. Glimmer has a little more chance then Marvel, but less then Clove.

And then there's Katniss. She could easily win. It'll be her or Cato probably. She's smarter, prettier, and a whole heck of a lot more likable then Cato. Sponsors could have a huge reason to give her things, and like Haymitch had said, sponsors are everything in a game like this.

Anyway, I look in the water bottle I currently have, frowning about the fact that Clove stole it off a tribute she had killed recently.

"Yeah, water might be a good idea. Dehydration can kill as easily as anything." I say.

Marvel glares at me. "Shut up, twelve. Nobody asked for your opinion."

"Nobody asked for yours either." Glimmer pipes up.

"Both of you shut up before I decide to cut your lips off, you get my point?" Clove snaps.

"All of you, shut the hell up! We're an alliance. And not just any alliance. We're the _Careers_, people. One of us will win, but not if we turn on each other." Cato interjects, sending everyone else into silence. He turns to me. "Let's all go get water. Peeta's right, clever little lover boy that he is." he says with a bit of jerkiness.

But then again, Cato can't always be the guy in the cave. He has a reputation to uphold for everyone else.

Marvel groans and grabs his water bottle, standing and pulling Glimmer by the waist up next to him, and Clove pushes between the two, breaking them apart, much to the annoyance of Marvel. "Move it, losers." she hisses.

We all follow behind Cato through the woods around the Cornucopia, on our way to the nearest water source, a small river, though all of us are on red alert for noise that could potentially be a tribute, as Cato has repeatedly drilled into us as our orders.

The second we get out of the woods, Marvel and Glimmer start talking and then their laughing, and then Cato and Clove join in, and I'm left to walk behind them, clueless. And then I hear what their saying.

"Ooh, it's Flame Girl!" Marvel shouts.

"Aww, look at her, taking a swim in the water, are ya, fire girl?" Glimmer jeers.

"We're gonna get you, Kat-piss!" Marvel replies, and everyone dissolves into loud, jeering laughter.

"Your such a dumbass." Clove yells at Marvel, all of us breaking into a run as Katniss starts running toward the woods.

_Don't catch her. Please, don't catch her. _I plead with the universe, hoping and praying that they won't catch her.

I don't know why...I mean, she obviously doesn't like me. Cato does, and I know that. He's shown it already. Katniss hasn't done a thing. She tried to kill me practically afterwards, and we didn't do a lot of training together, and even though Haymitch is billing us as the perfect, amazing 'Star Crossed Lovers of District 12', I don't care much at the moment, or for the past few days really. She doesn't care about me, so why should I care about her anymore?

I will admit, I loved her for as long as I could remember. But it went away...slightly. I found a new love for Cato that prevented me from loving Katniss.

I think it's because she's my district partner that I don't want my allies to catch her. It's just a general principle, in a way. If you can't win the Games, you want your district partner to do it. And that does rein true for me, though I feel like I also want Cato to win...or maybe that's just my thought that he will.

I'm barely aware of the fact that I've run after my allies, keeping up shockingly, and now we're all standing under an extremely tall tree. I can see Katniss clearly perched up in it, safe from harm, and more specifically, from Cato,Clove, Glimmer, and Marvel. And me. Not that I would try and hurt her. I don't think I really am capable of that if I wanted to. It's the district principle. That stupid principle, making me weak. Oh well. I look like her star crossed lover. Just like I should.

Glimmer grabs her bow off her back(since when she had a bow, I can't say. I wasn't paying _that_ much attention to her, I'm not Marvel after all), grabbing an arrow from the quiver and launching it up in Katniss's direction quicker then I used to think possible.

It doesn't even land close to her. The tree's too tall.

Cato pushes her out of the way, probably deciding he shouldn't waste any more time on letting Glimmer try to do things, and starts climbing that impossibly tall, seemingly endless tree.

"COME ON, CATO. COME ON, CATO!" Clove is chanting over and over, encouraging him.

Glimmer shoots her a look, but starts egging him on as well.

Until Cato comes crashing back to the ground.

I see Marvel getting ready to try something, and suddenly I know I need to stop this. I know the Careers will find a way to get to her eventually. And I don't want that to happen.

"Let's just wait her out." I say. "She has to come down at some point." The words leave my lips without my consent, and yet again I worry Cato will kill me. Except this time, it isn't just Cato I have to worry about. It's him, _and_ Clove, _and_ Glimmer, _and_ Marvel. The fearsome four, as I had nicknamed them in training that first day, as they eyed me like a meal.

"Yeah. We'll just wait her out." Cato agrees, and not a single one of us contradicts him. Cato's word is law, and anyone challenging it will get punished somehow. There will be something he does to get you back. For challenging his authority. For challenging his anything, for that matter.

"Make a fire." he instructs Marvel, and without another word, Marvel leaves, comes back, makes a roaring fire, and everyone sets up camp, prepared to wait out Katniss until she decides to come down.

Night falls soon after, and soon enough, the crackling fire, the stillness of the night, and everything else start to lull me to sleep. And as I start to lose consciousness, I notice something-everyone else is falling asleep too.

This can't turn out well.

* * *

**GAMES DAY 5:**

I wake up to screaming. First I hear Clove's, then Marvel's...sort of, then Cato's roar of anger, and then Glimmer's, drowning out everything. I instantly open my eyes, throwing my sleeping bag off of me and standing, seeing a swarm of bee-like things swarming everywhere. I think I remember reading about them sometime in training...I think their called tracker jackers...they have a really venomous sting.

I start running the other way, hearing Cato faintly yell "The lake! To the lake!"

I can only hear it a little bit over the sound of Glimmer's deafening screams.

I don't even look behind me to see is Marvel and Glimmer are alright. Cato and Clove are right in front of me, next to each other, running, and both dive into the lake. I quickly follow.

Whether we stayed under a for a second, or an hour, I have no idea, but when I resurface, Cato and Clove are sitting on the side of the lake, dripping wet, looking annoyed.

Cato looks ready to murder someone, and not just in the way he usually does, and Clove looks ready to stab the next person to talk to her...come to think of it, Cato isn't saying anything.

Marvel is nearby, looking annoyed, but he's too busy wringing out his shirt to be much use for an observation.

I wade out of the water, walking past them and back into the woods. The first thing I notice is that Katniss is on the ground, kneeling by some mound...Glimmer's body I realize, bow in hand. The same one Glimmer was using. The same one she probably originally wanted at the Cornucopia.

"Go! Run!" I yell.

I hear Cato's voice before I see him, but I do see him, heading toward me, looking more enraged than ever.

"GO! RUN! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! RUN!" I scream louder at Katniss, and she finally seems to get the message, getting to her feet, and more importantly, getting out of there. Wobbling, probably from getting stung by those things...did she drop them?, she gets out of there.

Cato pushes me up against the tree, my head connecting with the bark so hard to make me see stars.

"You idiot! You let her get away!" he screams. "You are the most worthless, pathetic, lousy excuse for a boy I have ever seen in my life. I was beyond stupid to think that I could do anything, even use my own freaking hormones for Gods' sake, to help you. Nothing can fix that messed up, screwed up mass of shit between your ears people call your brain. NOTHING, TWELVE! You let her get away. And you know how useful she would have been to us."

His words don't register for a moment. I mean, I had thought he liked me for days now. And not like schoolboy crush liking, like real liking. And now,he had just stood there, in front of my face, telling me the exact opposite. He didn't care about me. He didn't like me. He didn't even think I was smart. He...did what he did...because he thought it would make me like him.

"I LOVE HER!" I blurt out.

I don't even know where it comes from, the way I'm yelling, but I do, and I can't take it back.

"Oh, you love her?" Cato snickers.

"Love her enough to kill one of your own allies?" he asks, pointing at the mutilated thing that used to be Glimmer behind him. She's dead, I know that. I also know Katniss somehow got those things to fall, probably from a nest. And I'm sure Cato isn't stupid enough to be oblivious to that fact as well.

"You did that, Cato. You told us to stay here." I whisper.

"Glimmer's gone. I thought you wanted to win. One less member of the competition."

Cato's face turns a bright red, and before I realize it, he swings his sword at me. Seconds later, it connects with my leg, bringing fiery, red hot pain that shoots up my entire leg. Looking down, I can only see bright red.

"Love that." he snickers, and saunters away as I fall to my knees.

* * *

**GAMES DAY 10-**

I somehow manage to get back to the stream, put some leaves and clay on my face to make myself look like a rock, and then, having no energy left, I lay down by the river to pass out, and just die peacefully.

I don't have anything else to do. My leg hurts so badly I can't even walk on it, and everything aches from walking and sleeping in such strange places as I have been.

I'm shocked I had even made it this far.

Take that Careers.

* * *

**GAMES DAY 11-**

"Peeta! Peeta!" I hear, and openmy eyes slightly, the light filtering harshly in. I close them again, wincing first from that, then at the sudden burst of pain from my leg.

I stay still until I hear something by me, like footsteps, and only then do I open my eyes again.

It's Katniss. I have no idea how she found me, but she did.

She removes the leaves from around me and I open my mouth to speak, but she interrupts.

"What happened?" she asks, looking in the direction of my leg.

"Cato...cut me..." I rasp, having not spoken in who knows how long.

She helps me to my feet, and despite the near unbearable pain, I allow her to. I'm just so happy to be with her again, and even more overjoyed when she tells me that both of can win. I don't even believe her, but then again, what else can I believe? It's not any crazier, what she's saying, then Cato loving me.

Ha! I was so dumb. I love Katniss. And I know that now. I should have never doubted it! She and I are meant to be. We're the star crossed lovers of District 12! We're madly in love.

She's heading toward a cave. As we get inside, and she lays me down, helping me so I'm in less pain then I was, and trying to per form first aid on me, I realize the most shocking thing.

It's not just _a_ cave. It's _the_ cave.

* * *

**Word Count(without A/N): 5,269**


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